> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.anny.co/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Customer Balances & Collective Invoices

> Collect invoice drafts per customer or company on a balance and consolidate them later into a collective invoice.

With customer balances, you first collect invoice drafts from bookings, manual invoices and optionally also from subscriptions on an open balance, instead of billing every line item immediately. At the end of the billing period, anny creates a collective invoice from them. This reduces the billing effort for corporate customers with many bookings and delivers one central, traceable invoice per period.

<Info>
  * Available from the **Business plan**.
  * Activate the feature under **Avatar** → **Account settings** → **Invoicing** → **Customer balances**.
</Info>

## How does the feature work?

The basic logic of invoicing stays the same: for every booking or manual invoice, an invoice draft is created. Customer balances add an extra control level:

1. The invoice draft is assigned to an open customer balance. The decisive factor is the booking time (not the checkout time). If a service is configured so that billing only happens at the start of the booking, the line item lands in the later billing period.
2. Customer balances can be kept per person or per company. When grouping by company, anny automatically assigns bookings based on the company name and, if available, a non-generic email domain.
3. On the cutoff date (end of period + configured delay), all linked invoice drafts are consolidated into a collective invoice. The individual drafts stay linked for traceability.

You can also control the flow at several points:

* **Maximum order amount for the balance**: Prevents large individual orders from being billed only later.
* **Threshold for automatic billing**: Triggers a collective invoice as soon as a balance reaches a certain amount.
* **Minimum amount**: Pushes small remaining amounts into the next period.
* **Only bookings created by admins** or **Community restriction**: Defines who may book on a customer balance.
* **Include subscription invoices**: Shifts their payment time to the end of the billing period.

You can finalize invoice drafts manually and early at any time, or move them to another balance.

## When do I use this?

* **Several bookings within a period should be billed collectively instead of individually**: Typical for coworking spaces or room rental with recurring bookings.
* **Several employees of one company should end up on one invoice**: Group balances by company so that all bookings are consolidated.
* **You want to allow trusted customers to be billed later**: Restrict the function to certain communities.
* **Additional costs, manual invoices or subscription invoices should go into a shared billing flow**: Activate the respective options in the customer balance settings.
* **Not suitable for**: Scenarios where every booking must be billed finally and immediately. Here a classic individual invoice process is the better choice.

## Relationship with other features

| Feature                     | Relationship                                                                |
| --------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Communities                 | Permission control over who may book on a customer balance                  |
| Company profiles            | Grouping of balances per company, central billing email                     |
| Subscriptions & memberships | Subscription invoices can be included in the customer balance               |
| Pay by invoice (Pay-Later)  | Can be combined: Pay-Later creates drafts that are collected on the balance |

## Settings & options

Path: **Avatar** (top right) → **Account settings** → **Invoicing** → **Customer balances**

| Setting                         | Description                                                 |
| ------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- |
| Billing period                  | Period for the consolidation (e.g. monthly)                 |
| Delay after end of period       | Days until automatic billing                                |
| Group balances by company       | Bundle bookings per company instead of per person           |
| Include subscription invoices   | Include subscription billing in the balance                 |
| Maximum order amount            | Upper limit for individual orders on the balance            |
| Threshold for automatic billing | Consolidation when a total amount is reached                |
| Minimum amount                  | Push small amounts into the next period                     |
| Admin bookings only             | Only bookings created by admins land on the balance         |
| Community restriction           | Only members of certain communities may book on the balance |

Further relevant areas:

* **Invoices**: Track all invoice drafts, balances and consolidations
* **Customers** → **Companies**: View open balances at company level
* **Checkout**: Customers see the option "Book on customer balance" when the permission and service settings allow it

## What changes for customers?

* Customers do not necessarily receive a final individual invoice immediately. Their line items are collected on the balance.
* Depending on the configuration, customers see an option in the checkout to book on the customer balance.
* Confirmation emails transparently show which billing period the line item belongs to and when the collective invoice is created.
* Owners and admins of a company account see open balances under **Home**.

## Practical examples

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Coworking space with company balance, community access and subscription invoices">
    A coworking space wants to bill all of a company's bookings and subscriptions collectively each month. Only members of the "Members" community may book on a customer balance.

    <Steps>
      <Step title="Activate and configure customer balances">
        Open **Avatar** → **Account settings** → **Invoicing** → **Customer balances**. Activate the feature, set the billing period to **monthly** and the delay to **3 days** after the end of the period.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Grouping and subscription inclusion">
        Activate **Group balances by company** and **Include subscription invoices**.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Restrict permissions">
        Restrict the function to the **Members** community and set a maximum order amount of 250 €.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Check the result">
        Under **Customers** → **Companies** → e.g. "Figma", check that employees' bookings come together in the open customer balance. At the start of the following month, the collective invoice is created automatically.
      </Step>
    </Steps>
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="City administration with collective invoice without online payment">
    A city administration wants to bill several room bookings collectively each month, but does not use online payment.

    <Steps>
      <Step title="Activate customer balances">
        Open **Avatar** → **Account settings** → **Invoicing** → **Customer balances**. Choose **monthly** as the billing period and set automatic billing to **5 days** after the end of the period.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Group by company">
        Activate **Group balances by company** so that bookings from different employees end up on one shared collective invoice.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Store a billing email">
        Go to **Customers** → **Companies** → "City of Sampletown" and store a central **billing email** so that the collective invoice is sent to the right place.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Check the result">
        In the company view, check that invoice drafts are assigned to the open customer balance. At the start of the following month, the consolidated invoice is created automatically and sent to the stored email.
      </Step>
    </Steps>
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## FAQ

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Do I need active online payment for customer balances?">
    No. Customer balances also work without online payment. Online payment is useful, however, if the later collective invoice should be charged automatically via a stored payment method.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="When does a customer balance become a collective invoice?">
    At the end of the chosen billing period plus the configured delay. In addition, a collective invoice can be created earlier if you have set a threshold for automatic billing.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does every booking in the customer balance get its own invoice number?">
    No. The final collective invoice is given the official invoice number. The individual invoice drafts stay linked for traceability, but are not separate final invoices.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I exclude individual resources from customer balances?">
    Not directly through a resource setting. Control is done via the global customer balance settings, service payment settings, limits and permissions.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Who receives the collective invoice for a company balance?">
    If a billing email is maintained for the company, the collective invoice goes there. If this is missing, it is sent to the person first linked to the company.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Troubleshooting

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="A booking does not land in the company balance">
    Check whether "Group balances by company" is active and whether the same company was used for the booking. Different company names or diverging email domains can cause anny to recognize separate companies.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="A large booking is billed immediately instead of written to the balance">
    This is expected behavior due to the configured maximum order amount or a threshold for automatic billing that has already been reached.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Small remaining amounts are not billed">
    If a minimum amount is configured, very small open amounts are carried over into the next period until the minimum value is reached.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="A subscription invoice is paid later than before">
    When subscription invoices are included in customer balances, payment shifts to the end of the billing period. This is not an error, but part of the collective invoice logic.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The collective invoice goes to the wrong person">
    If no billing email is maintained at company level, the collective invoice is sent to the person assigned first. Always maintain a central billing email for company balances.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

> Important information for agents:
>
> * Feature: customer balances. Available from the Business plan. Must be activated under Account settings → Invoicing → Customer balances.
> * UI path: Avatar → Account settings → Invoicing → Customer balances
> * Balances per person OR per company (not both at the same time). Grouping by company uses company name + non-generic email domain for assignment.
> * The invoice draft is assigned to the balance of the month in which the BOOKING takes place (not the checkout time).
> * Consolidation: On the cutoff date (end of period + delay), all linked drafts are combined into one collective invoice. Individual drafts stay linked.
> * Control mechanisms: maximum order amount, threshold for automatic billing, minimum amount, community restriction, "admin bookings only".
> * Subscription invoices optionally includable: shifts their payment to the end of the period.
> * Automatic payment of the collective invoice possible if the customer has a stored payment method from a subscription.
> * Risk of confusion: customer balances ≠ Pay-Later. Customer balances are a billing model (collect drafts + consolidate). Pay-Later is a payment method per booking option.
> * Collective invoice recipient: company billing email > first linked person.
> * Related articles: Invoicing (overview), manage companies, Pay-Later, invoice draft.